I pretty much loved the game from the start although I guess the very beginning does drag on a bit, but at the same time it established zelda as an actual character I cared about for the first time in the series.
I thought the first dungeon was okay, not great but then again it's the first dungeon and I liked it a lot better than TP's first dungeon at least. the first boss battle was amazing though, definitely the best first boss a zelda game has had.
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DON~!